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The Dream of the Celt: A Novel
by Mario Vargas LlosaA subtle and enlightening novel about a neglected human rights pioneer by the Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas LlosaIn 1916, the Irish nationalist Roger Casement was hanged by the British government for treason. Casement had dedicated his extraordinary life to improving the plight of oppressed peoples around the world—especially the native populations in the Belgian Congo and the Amazon—but when he dared to draw a parallel between the injustices he witnessed in African and American colonies and those committed by the British in Northern Ireland, he became involved in a cause that led to his imprisonment and execution. Ultimately, the scandals surrounding Casement's trial and eventual hanging tainted his image to such a degree that his pioneering human rights work wasn't fully reexamined until the 1960s.In The Dream of the Celt, Mario Vargas Llosa, who has long been regarded as one of Latin America's most vibrant, provocative, and necessary literary voices—a fact confirmed when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010—brings this complex character to life as no other writer can. A masterful work, sharply translated by Edith Grossman, The Dream of the Celt tackles a controversial man whose story has long been neglected, and, in so doing, pushes at the boundaries of the historical novel.
The Book of Illusions: A Novel
by Paul AusterFrom the internationally bestselling author of 4 3 2 1 and The New York Trilogy comes The Book of Illusions,“an enthralling new summit in Paul Auster's art.” —Jonathan LethemA man's obsession with a silent-film star sends him on a journey into a shadow world of lies, illusions, and unexpected love.Six months after losing his wife and two young sons in an airplane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a clip from a lost silent film by comedian Hector Mann. Zimmer's interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious figure, who vanished from sight in 1929 and has been presumed dead for sixty years.When the book is published the following year, a letter turns up in Zimmer's mailbox bearing a return address from a small town in New Mexico-supposedly written by Hector's wife. "Hector has read your book and would like to meet you. Are you interested in paying us a visit?" Is the letter a hoax, or is Hector Mann still alive? Torn between doubt and belief, Zimmer hesitates, until one night a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes the decision for him, changing his life forever.This stunning novel plunges the reader into a universe in which the comic and the tragic, the real and the imagined, the violent and the tender dissolve into one another.
Falling Through the Earth: A Memoir
by Danielle TrussoniOne of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the YearNew York Times bestselling author Danielle Trussoni's unforgettable memoir of her wild and haunted father, a man whose war never really ended.From her charismatic father, Danielle Trussoni learned how to rock and roll, outrun the police, and never shy away from a fight. Spending hour upon hour trailing him around the bars and honky-tonks of La Crosse, Wisconsin, young Danielle grew up fascinated by stories of her dad's adventures as a tunnel rat in Vietnam, where he'd risked his life crawling head first into narrow passageways to search for American POWs.A vivid and poignant portrait of a daughter's relationship with her father, this funny, heartbreaking, and beautifully written memoir, Falling Through the Earth, "makes plain that the horror of war doesn't end in the trenches" (Vanity Fair).
Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class
by Larry Tye"A valuable window into a long-underreported dimension of African American history."—NewsdayAn engaging social history that reveals the critical role Pullman porters played in the struggle for African American civil rightsWhen George Pullman began recruiting Southern blacks as porters in his luxurious new sleeping cars, the former slaves suffering under Jim Crow laws found his offer of a steady job and worldly experience irresistible. They quickly signed up to serve as maid, waiter, concierge, nanny, and occasionally doctor and undertaker to cars full of white passengers, making the Pullman Company the largest employer of African American men in the country by the 1920s.In the world of the Pullman sleeping car, where whites and blacks lived in close proximity, porters developed a unique culture marked by idiosyncratic language, railroad lore, and shared experience. They called difficult passengers "Mister Charlie"; exchanged stories about Daddy Jim, the legendary first Pullman porter; and learned to distinguish generous tippers such as Humphrey Bogart from skinflints like Babe Ruth. At the same time, they played important social, political, and economic roles, carrying jazz and blues to outlying areas, forming America's first black trade union, and acting as forerunners of the modern black middle class by virtue of their social position and income.Drawing on extensive interviews with dozens of porters and their descendants, Larry Tye reconstructs the complicated world of the Pullman porter and the vital cultural, political, and economic roles they played as forerunners of the modern black middle class. Rising from the Rails provides a lively and enlightening look at this important social phenomenon.• Named a Recommended Book by The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Seattle Times
Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee
by Peter RichmondThe first major biography of the legendary singer—an enthralling accountof a charismatic artist moving through the greatest, most glamorous era of American music "I learned courage from Buddha, Jesus, Lincoln, and Mr. Cary Grant." So said Peggy Lee, the North Dakota girl who sang like she'd just stepped out of Harlem. Einstein adored her; Duke Ellington dubbed her "the Queen." With her platinum cool and inimitable whisper she sold twenty million records, made more money than Mickey Mantle, and along with pals Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby presided over music's greatest generation. Yet beneath the diamonds she was still Norma Delores Egstrom, insecure and always looking for acceptance. Drawing on exclusive interviews and new information, Peter Richmond delivers a complex, compelling portrait of an artist and an era that begins with a girl plagued by loss, her father's alcoholism, and her stepmother's abuse. One day she gets on a train hoping her music will lead her someplace better. It does—to a new town and a new name; to cities and clubs where a gallery of brilliant innovators are ushering in a brand-new beat; to four marriages, a daughter, Broadway, Vegas, and finally Hollywood. Richmond traces how Peggy rose, right along with jazz itself, becoming an unstoppable hit-maker ("Fever," "Mañana," "Is That All There Is?"). We see not only how this unforgettable star changed the rhythms of music, but also how—with her drive to create, compose, and perform—she became an artist whose style influenced k.d. lang, Nora Jones, and Diana Krall. Fever brings the lady alive again—and makes her swing.
Lash-Up
by Larry BondNew York Times bestselling author Larry Bond thrills again in Lash-Up, an explosive new novel. In a bid to dominate Asia and the western Pacific, China provokes a military crisis with the United States and then starts shooting down GPS satellites. America has only a short amount of time to devise some way of protecting its remaining satellites or China will gain an enormous advantage in the coming conflict. The only way the satellites can be protected is from orbit, so an armed spacecraft must be quickly designed, built, and launched to fight on this new battlefield.A team of soldier-scientists must construct a craft capable of knocking space weapons out of the sky. The fate of the United States rests on the shoulders of these determined people.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Mad Moon of Dreams (Dreamlands #3)
by Brian LumleyOnce David Hero was an ordinary man living in the real world. Now he is trapped in the Dreamlands, cut off from the waking world. David Hero's dreams and nightmares have become his own reality.Swollen, glowing oddly in the gloom of night, the moon hangs lower and lower over the Dreamlands. Its weird, unearthly light transforms beautiful landscapes into twisted nightmares and imperils the sanity of any who walk abroad after sunset.Beams of terrible power stab the unsuspecting earth, destroying the land, shattering buildings, and dragging people into the shrieking sky, straight toward the hellish moon!David Hero, once a man of the waking world, finds himself fighting side by side with his worst enemies--Zura and her zombie armies, the Eidolon Lathi and her termite men--against the slimy, many-tentacled moon monsters.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Reefer Madness: A History of Marijuana
by Larry "Ratso" SlomanReefer Madness, a classic in the annals of hemp literature, is the popular social history of marijuana use in America. Beginning with the hemp farming of George Washington, author Larry "Ratso" Sloman traces the fascinating story of our nation's love-hate relationship with the resilient weed we know as marijuana. Herein we find antiheroes such as Allen Ginsberg, Robert Mitchum (the first Hollywood actor busted for pot), Louis Armstrong (who smoked pot every day), the Beatles, and more rapscallions standing up for, supporting, smoking, and politicizing the bounties of marijuana. With a new afterword by Michael Simmons, who has written for Rolling Stone, LA Weekly, and High Times, on the progress of the hemp movement and the importance of medical marijuana, Reefer Madness is a classic that goes on.
Come Sundown
by Mike BlakelyReluctant hero, Honore Greenwood, has a knack for embroiling himself in the most violent conflicts of the Southern Plains. Known as Plenty Man to the Comanches, Honore serves as ransom negotiator for captives among the Indians. As if his life wasn't in danger enough, Honore has offered his services to the New Mexico Volunteers in the Civil War. But as Honore's luck would have it, he's in the same unit as Luther Sheffield, a man whose grudge against Greenwood knows no boundaries, even though they are fighting on the same side. Leaving behind his beautiful Arapaho bride, Honore rides out, joining his legendary friend, Kit Carson, as a scout. But he is swept into more action than he bargained for—heavy combat in the battles of Val Verde Ford and Glorieta Pass plus Indian attacks—all the while watching over his shoulder for the ruthless Luther Sheffield. Worried that he may soon be ordered to take up arms against his own adoptive tribe, the Comanches, Honore resigns as Kit's scout to return to his tribe. But Honore's halcyon days among the Indians cannot last forever, and he knows that eventually his old cavalry unit will come to attack his village. Torn between a nation on the rise and his own adoptive culture, Plenty Man is forced to lead the fight for Comanche freedom against his old friend, the great Kit Carson, in a battle at a remote place in the Texas Panhandle called Adobe Walls. But in the end, it becomes difficult to tell enemy from ally, and Plenty Man knows his loyalty to the Indians may cost him everything – his beautiful wife, his freedom to return to white civilization, his friendship with Kit, and even his very life.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
All We Know: Three Lives
by Lisa CohenEsther Murphy was a brilliant New York intellectual who dazzled friends and strangers with an unstoppable flow of conversation. But she never finished the books she was contracted to write—a painful failure and yet a kind of achievement.The quintessential fan, Mercedes de Acosta had intimate friendships with the legendary actresses and dancers of the twentieth century. Her ephemeral legacy lies in the thousands of objects she collected to preserve the memory of those performers and to honor the feelings they inspired.An icon of haute couture and a fashion editor of British Vogue, Madge Garland held bracing views on dress that drew on her feminism, her ideas about modernity, and her love of women. Existing both vividly and invisibly at the center of cultural life, she—like Murphy and de Acosta—is now almost completely forgotten.In All We Know, Lisa Cohen describes these women's glamorous choices, complicated failures, and controversial personal lives with lyricism and empathy. At once a series of intimate portraits and a startling investigation into style, celebrity, sexuality, and the genre of biography itself, All We Know explores a hidden history of modernism and pays tribute to three compelling lives. All We Know is one of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 Best Books of 2012
Dragon and Phoenix (Dragonlord #2)
by Joanne BertinIn Dragon and Phoenix, the sweeping sequel to Joanne Bertin's hugely successful fantasy epic The Last Dragonlord, Linden and Muarynna must rescue a trapped dragon from an evil princess.Once every thousand years the phoenix of Jehanglan burns to death in a magical release. For millennia the emperors of Jehanglan have tried to harness the awesome power of the phoenix's rebirth. One has finally succeeded, using black magic and the enslavement of a dragon.Far away at the Crown of the World, Dragon-lord Linden and his new wife, Maurynna, are trying to live the life of happy newlyweds. But all is not well. Since her first Change into dragon-form, Maurynna has been unable to duplicate it. And as her inability to Change drives her into a dark abyss of depression, Linden begins to doubt the love he was once so sure of...At this time of personal crisis, these two must journey to Jehanglan and marshall all of their diplomatic and martial skill to penetrate the treachery of the empire and set free the phoenix. But to do so they must face the dragon--the dragon who just might be a Dragonlord gone mad....At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Hero of Dreams (Dreamlands #1)
by Brian LumleySomething vital is missing from David Hero's comfortable, ordinary existence. One day is much like the next, simple, predictable...boring.But the nights! Each night David Hero finds himself transported to a marvelous world where brave men and women battle terrible creatures possessed of cruel, dark powers.Despite his fears, the Dreamworlds tempt David, drawing him farther and farther from the waking world. Here he finds noble warriors; beautiful, loving women; and challenges almost greater than he can imagine.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Wisdom's Daughter: A Novel of Solomon and Sheba
by India EdghillThis is the tale of Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, who rules the spice lands and bows before the will of the Goddess.This is the tale of Solomon, the King of Israel and Judea, who built the golden temple to Yahweh in Jerusalem. Once he prayed that he might rule wisely.This is the tale of Solomon's wives, of his concubines ... and of his daughter Baalit, more beloved than any son. Here are their voices, their mysteries, and their deepest secrets. Here they sing their songs and weave their tapestries.As the queen's search for a true heir to her throne takes her to the court of the wisest man in the world, both she and the king learn how to value truth, love, and duty...and the king's daughter learns that not all the world is ruled by men.Wisdom's Daughter is a vivid and richly textured rendition of the biblical tale of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Told in a tapestry of voices that ring with authenticity, Wisdom's Daughter profoundly reveals the deep ties among women in a patriarchal world.
Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools
by Thomas Dyja Rudy CrewAn inspiring new vision for America's public schools from one of the nation's top educatorsAmerican fourth graders score twelfth in the world in math skills, after Latvia and Hungary. Our eighth graders are fifteenth, below Malaysia and Slovakia. And by the time they're fifteen years old, our students have slipped off the map—to twenty-fourth place internationally. If these stats don't make you angry or ashamed or plain sad, then at the very least they should make you afraid. If matters don't change soon, tens of millions of our sons and daughters will grow up unable to function—let alone compete—in a global economy. And the impact of that on all of us will be devastating. All is not lost, though, says Rudy Crew, who has headed some of the largest and most daunting school systems in America. Not by any means. Only Connect is a call for not just parents but the entire nation to reconceive our relationship with public education. If we're to survive, we must place our schools at the center of our communities and partner with them to produce children with the full set of the tools they'll need—personal, civic, and occupational as well as academic—to face the economic challenges that lie ahead. Much like Thomas Friedman in The World Is Flat, Crew shows us the reality of our schools in a new century, and what we each must do to create the next generation of mature and conscious contributors to society. From parents who demand only the best from their children and their schools, through our teachers and administrators, all the way to Washington, D.C., everyone has a role in restoring American education and America's competitive edge.
Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight (Mazirian The Magician Ser.)
by Jack VanceJack Vance is one of the most remarkable talents to ever grace the world of science fiction. His unique, stylish voice has been beloved by generations of readers. One of his enduring classics is his Mazirian the Magician (previously titled The Dying Earth), and its sequels--a fascinating, baroque tale set on a far-future Earth, under a giant red sun that is soon to go out forever.In Cugel: the Skybreak Spatterlight , Cugel the Clever is still seeking revenge on the magician Iucounu, whom he blames for his exile and all his troubles. But revenge is hard to come by, and the adventures on the way are so very diverting….At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Rhialto the Marvellous: The Dying Earth, The Eyes Of The Overworld, Cugel's Saga, Rhialto The Marvellous (The Dying Earth Series #1)
by Jack VanceJack Vance is one of the most remarkable talents to ever grace the world of science fiction. His unique, stylish voice has been beloved by generations of readers. One of his enduring classics is hisThe Dying Earth series, fascinating, baroque tales set on a far-future Earth, under a giant red sun that is soon to go out forever.Rhialto the Marvellous contains three linked novellas about the adventures of the wizard Rhialto across the decadent landscape of the Dying Earth, under its swollen red sun.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Spies: A Novel
by Michael FraynFrom the bestselling author of Headlong, a mesmerizing novel about secrecy, imagination, and a child's game turned deadly earnestThe sudden trace of a disturbing, forgotten aroma compels Stephen Wheatley to return to the site of a dimly remembered but troubling childhood summer in wartime London. As he pieces together his scattered images, we are brought back to a quiet, suburan street where two boys, Keith and his sidekick-Stephen-are engaged in their own version of the war effort: spying on the neighbors, recording their movements, ferreting out their secrets.But when Keith utters six shocking words, the boys' game of espionage takes a sinister and unintended turn. A wife's simple errands and a family's ordinary rituals-once the focus of childish speculation-become the tragic elements of adult catastrophe.In gripping prose, charged with emotional intensity, Spies reaches into the moral confusion of youth to reveal a reality filled with deceptions and betrayals, where the bonds of friendship, marriage, and family are unravelled by cowardice and erotic desire. Master illusionist Michael Frayn powerfully demonstrates, yet again, that what appears to be happening in front of our eyes often turns out to be something we can't see at all.
Bill, the Galactic Hero
by Harry HarrisonBill, the Galactic Hero is written by Harry Harrison who is also the author of Deathworld, Make Room! Make Room! (filmed as Soylent Green), the popular Stainless Steel Rat books, and many other famous works of SF."Simply the funniest science fiction book ever written."--New York Times besteselling author Terry PratchettAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Homeworld (To the Stars Trilogy #1)
by Harry HarrisonThe first volume in Harry Harrison's epic To the Stars Trilogy, Homeworld is a stark and compelling vision of the future. Homeworld is heaven on Earth.If you don't ask questions...Homeworld is stable at last, hundreds of years after the collapse of the 20th Century economy. For the millions of proles, life is still a grim ordeal, but for the lucky few, like Engineer Jan Kulozik, there is every kind of luxury. Except one. On Homeworld, where everything and everyone is monitored by the faceless power of government, there is no freedom. Jak Kulozik knew nothing of the Resistance; he probably didn't want to. But suddenly, he is part of it. And running for his life...At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Jupiter Plague
by Harry HarrisonUnexpectedly, the long-lost first manned Jupiter probe has returned--but only a madman would have tried to land it at Kennedy International!The result is the biggest air disaster in history. And that's only the beginning: now comes THE JUPITER PLAGUE.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
One King's Way: The Hammer And The Cross, Book Two (The Hammer and the Cross #2)
by Harry HarrisonA craftsman, visionary, and warrior, Shef has risen from slavery to become king of a mighty Viking nation. But his growing kingdom menaces all of Europe, and he has made many powerful enemies.Chief among his enemies are the Knights of the Lance, a fanatical order of soldiers sworn to bring Shef down, no matter what the cost. To defeat Shef, they will go to extraordinary lengths to find the sacred spear of Christ--and resurrect the Holy Roman Empire.Driven by dreams, Shef battles to change the course of history, but even the gods themselves may be plotting against him....At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl
by Debra OllivierEver wonder what gives French women that je ne sais quoi?At first you might think it's the elegant figure, matchless style, and mysterious allure. Then you realize those qualities don't come from just anywhere. They come from generations of women raised to cultivate an extraordinary sense of self. French women know who they are, like who they are, and excel at presenting who they are.The rest of us are often susceptible to the next fad, the new thing, the ultimate diet. We're always seeking, instead of realizing that what we already are may be just right. Rarely does an American woman feel as comfortable in her own skin as her French counterpart. And rarely does an American woman have that essentially French ability to say no---to refuse anything that doesn't suit her, whether that thing is a job, a man, or the season's latest styles.Provocative and practical, lively and intelligent, Entre Nous unlocks the mystery of the French girl and the secrets of her self-possession. Why do French women always look inimitably stylish? How do they manage to sit in a café for a three-course lunch and a glass of wine...by themselves? How do they decide when they're ready to let someone become a part of their very private lives?Laced with practical tips, engaging sidebars, and essential observations about French women and their ways, Entre Nous is a delightful book that will help you take the best of all pages from the French girl's book---the page that reveals how to really enjoy life.
Are You Normal About Sex, Love, and Relationships?
by Bernice KannerWhen it comes to sex and love, how do you fit in? Are you...ahem, normal? Do you conform to the type, standard or pattern, the way MOST people do? In the bedroom--and elsewhere where we copulate--we're both entirely predictable and utterly surprising.*Would you try to conceive without your partner's consent if you wanted a baby?*What's sexier: suits, slacks, or jeans?*Do you slant to the right or left when kissing?*Have you ever lied to get a date?Marketing guru Bernice Kanner has spent many years researching how Americans love and lust to give us the statistics to satisfy our every curiosity. People talk about sex a lot--a worry about it even more. So pull up a chair and see how you compare...
Empire Rising: A Novel
by Thomas KellyA Novel of High-Stakes Romance and Betrayal, Set During the Race to Finish the World's Tallest Building In Empire Rising, his extraordinary third book, Thomas Kelly tells a story of love and work, of intrigue and jealousy, with the narrative verve that led the Village Voice's reviewer to dub him "Dostoevsky with a hard hat and lead pipe." As the novel opens, it is 1930-the Depression-and ground has just been broken for the Empire State Building. One of the thousands of men erecting the building high above the city is Michael Briody, an Irish immigrant torn between his desire to make a new life in America and his pledge to gather money and arms for the Irish republican cause. When he meets Grace Masterson, an alluring artist who is depicting the great skyscraper's ascent from her houseboat on the East River, Briody's life turns exhilarating-and dangerous, for Grace is also a paramour of Johnny Farrell, Mayor Jimmy Walker's liaison with Tammany Hall and the underworld. Their heartbreaking love story-which takes place both in the immigrant neighborhoods of the Bronx and amid the swanky nightlife of the '21' Club--is also a chronicle of the city's rough passage from a working-class enclave to a world-class metropolis, and a vivid reimagining of the conflict that pitted the Tammany Hall political machine and its popular mayor against the boundlessly ambitious Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Colin Harrison, in The New York Times Book Review, called Kelly's The Rackets "A well-paced, violent thriller, [and] an elegy for the city's old Irish working class." In Empire Rising, Kelly takes his work to a new level: telling of the story of the people who built the "eighth wonder of the world," he makes old New York the setting for a rich and unforgettable story.
Heaven (Halo Trilogy #3)
by Alexandra AdornettoOnly sixteen when she started the series, Ally Adornetto knows how teen hearts beat, and this long-awaited conclusion is certain to be her most popular book yet. Bethany, an angel sent to Earth, and her mortal boyfriend, Xavier, have been to Hell and back. But now their love will be put to its highest test yet, as they defy Heavenly law and marry. They don't tell Beth's archangel siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, but the angels know soon enough, and punishment comes in a terrifying form: the Sevens, who are rogue angels bent on keeping Beth and Xavier apart, destroying Gabriel and Ivy, and darkening angelic power in the heavens.The only way Bethany and can elude the Sevens is to hide in the open, and blend in with other mortals their own age. Gabriel and Ivy set them up at college, where they can't reveal their relationship, and where there is still danger around each corner. Will Bethany be called back to Heaven – forever – and face leaving the love of her life?